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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another great Abel Jones mystery!, June 5, 2005
This review is from: Rebels of Babylon: A Novel (Abel Jones Mysteries) (Hardcover)
Owen Parry's *Rebels of Babylon* is a delight. This is the sixth in the award-winning Abel Jones series of Civil War mysteries, and the author continues to spin satisfying stories in remarkably vivid prose.
*Rebels of Babylon* unfolds in the streets of wartime New Orleans with all its riddles, enchantments, and frights. In each of the Abel Jones mysteries, Owen Parry has taken the reader to new landscapes and outposts of the war, educating as well as entertaining us. His portrayal of the people and scenes of Civil War New Orleans is fascinating, as we follow the hero through many twists and narrow escapes. Parry gives us the smells and tastes and textures of the city and the port, and leads us by the hand from the darkness of nighttime voodoo rituals into even more chilling incidents in the light of day.
Just as the descriptions are colorful and the characters are lively, the story itself is intriguing. Sent to investigate a murder, Abel finds both familiar and unfathomable motives at its heart.
As with the other Abel Jones mysteries, this one comes full circle. No loose ends are left untied, and no aspect of the story seems unnatural -- although in the course of the tale we encounter plenty of unnatural scenes and moments! Another aspect of the book (and the series) that I particularly enjoyed was watching the continued development of the main character. This isn't quite the same Abel Jones we first encountered in *Faded Coat of Blue*. Abel's experiences have changed him in subtle, interesting ways.
Those who've read previous Abel Jones mysteries will find their expectations met or exceeded by *Rebels of Babylon*, and for those who are new to the series, I think this installment will make you want to read the earlier books too. One caution bears repeating: Expect to encounter language and attitudes of the 1860s, not the early 21st century.
It's good to know that such great writing has found the commercial success necessary to keep the series going. Now that we've seen wartime New Orleans, I wonder where Owen and Abel will take us next. I heartily recommend *Rebels of Babylon* to fans of mystery.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
New Orleans: "Nothing is as it seems...and smiles devour.", March 15, 2005
This review is from: Rebels of Babylon: A Novel (Abel Jones Mysteries) (Hardcover)
New Orleans, 1863: the Civil War is raging, controversial Union General Benjamin Butler has just turned over his post to his successor, blacks are disappearing from their neighborhoods, horrific murders are occurring, voodoo ceremonies are taking place in the countryside, and terror is everywhere. Some white "philanthropists" have established a program for sending blacks back to a welcoming Africa, but many former slaves wish to stay in New Orleans. Both blacks and whites are terrified at what the future may hold.
Into this milieu comes Abel Jones, a major in the Union army who came to the US from Wales, by way of India, and whose rigorous moral code has brought him to the attention of President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln has asked him to investigate the death of Susan Peabody, the abolitionist daughter of a wealthy northerner. Abel believes that she has been murdered, though no one knows a specific motive. Jones, the often dour hero of five previous Parry mysteries, is a fascinating character, and in this novel he continues to grow, showing far more emotion than he has in the past and far more flexibility in his interpretation of his religious duties as a devout Methodist.
Author Parry's considerable research into the New Orleans setting of 1863 is smoothly incorporated as he makes the city come alive in all the tumult of its mid-Civil War upheavals. His greatest skill, however, is in creating a fast pace in which one sensational event succeeds another at a never-slackening speed. Much of the mystery is connected to the Creoles' voodoo beliefs and voodoo ceremonies, which Parry describes in gruesome and gory detail, while Abel tries to connect events to missing Negroes and Susan Peabody's death. During his investigations, Abel runs afoul of some of the army officers who are supposed to be maintaining public order, and when he uncovers the theft of a huge sum of money entrusted to the army, his life is endangered.
Filling the novel with details and events guaranteed to excite the reader, including macabre deaths and torture not for the faint of heart, he appeals to the reader's emotions, sometimes creating scenes that are over-the-top in their sensationalism. "More is more" here, and subtlety is not an objective, once the action gets going. Written with immense narrative brio, this novel, like the others in the Abel Jones series is a carefully researched entertainment, rather than "serious literature." Parry's goal is to keep readers on the edges of their chairs, and he totally succeeds in this, his best novel to date. Mary Whipple
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Abel Jones in the Big Easy, April 3, 2005
This review is from: Rebels of Babylon: A Novel (Abel Jones Mysteries) (Hardcover)
It's early 1863, and the Southern city of New Orleans is under Federal control. Major Abel Jones is sent there to investigate the murder of the daughter of a prominent Northern politico, but this seemingly simple case turns extremely complicated. By the time the novel is done, there are more killings, kidnappings, fires, deceptions, etc., than could possibly populate three other books.Through it all our intrepid hero strives to maintain his stiff feeling of dignity and religious morality, although they are sorely tested in this type of setting. I believe that this series grows stronger with each new book, and I eagerly await the next installment of Jones' adventures!
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